


We're Okay

by redgoth



Category: South Park
Genre: Asperger Syndrome, Autism, Autistic Pete, Drabble-esque, F/M, Getting Together, Group Chat Fic, only once every five chapters, with millie the goths and mike and larry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-06 11:49:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10334009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redgoth/pseuds/redgoth
Summary: Pete and Millie and the Weird Thing Called Life





	1. Routine

**Author's Note:**

> Millie was a part of the routine.
> 
>  
> 
> [clings to millipete] [clings onto autistic pete] these are my kids

When Millie became a part of the routine, Pete knew he was fucked. Just, fucked. Nice going, dipshit.

Now, truthfully, Pete’s routines were never set in stone. They shifted, changed slowly, over time, and that was fine. On times, it changed without him noticing. So long as he decided the pace, any deviation was fine. If anyone else disrupted this without proper warning (at least a day in advance) it was not a welcomed arrangement.

This was one of the times it changed while Pete wasn’t paying attention. Now taking the time to walk down main street to see her hanging out with her friends, waving at her as she waved back, her bright smile sending what could only be described as fucking  _ butterflies _ through his insides. Stopping by the park on Sunday’s, walking her home and listening to her ramble on about her day and the things she had planned that week. At first, Pete stayed quiet, giving small smiles and little nods. But over a few weeks, he began adding in his own little mumbles of conversation, and then it soon turned to an actual two-way conversation.

Pete realized he was fucked two months after he started walking with Millie on Sunday’s. She hadn’t been at the park that day, but Pete knew that she wouldn’t. She had texted him the day before about how she was babysitting her sister. She wasn’t there. But Pete still found himself walking the way from the school to the park, to home. Without Millie. The park was out of the way. There was no reason to stop. He had never used to go to stop there, never used to wait for the girl. And now here he was. Standing at the picnic table she so often draped herself over. Waiting for something,  _ something _ to happen.

After three minutes, he began to walk. One foot in front of the other, step by step, left, right, left, right. He spared a glance at the direction of her house as he walked by, staring at it for longer than he’d care to admit, before continuing on, making a left turn and heading into the trailer park, back towards his home.

Of course his routine had changed for her. Of course it did.


	2. Soft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Millie's hair is soft.

“Do you wanna play with my hair?”

Her voice is quiet, nice and soft. It was always like that.

They had been hanging out for over an hour now, boarded up in Millie’s upstairs bedroom, watching the snow fall over the backyard. They’d exhausted themselves on talking, both yammering on and on about theater or art or peers from school, anything that crossed their minds. The past few minutes had been quiet, until Millie rolled over, gazing up at the boy who sat criss cross on the edge of her bed. He raised an eyebrow. She shrugged.

“It’s soft. I know you like messing with Henrietta’s and Michael’s hair, so I just thought…” She trailed off, suddenly looking embarrassed. “I mean, I’m not, like,  _ demanding _ you touch my hair or anything, it’s totally fine if you want to say no!”

“I wanna.” He replied, all too quickly. She smiled.

“Okay.” She sat up then, scooting a bit closer to Pete. He set his phone down in his lap and scooted closer to her, immediately running his hand through her long, orange-ish hair. Millie’s hair was soft. And it smelled like apples, real apples. Not the fakey apple smell. Pete smiled faintly, carding his fingers through her hair, slowly separating it into three strands, and braiding it. As soon as he finished, he undid the braid, and started over again.

This continued on in silence for a few long minutes, braiding and unbraiding, gentle hands twirling around soft locks of hair. Words built up in Pete’s mind, swirling and colliding.

“Your hair  _ is  _ soft.” He said, finally, feeling the lump in his throat diminish, just a little.

“Told ya.” Millie laughed, tilting her head back to catch a glimpse of the boy behind her. Her smile was beautiful as always.

“Michael’s hair is curly so it’s a different texture, and Henrietta only washes her hair every few days so it usually feels kinda… greasy, I guess.” He hesitated, sticking a hand in his own hair. He hadn’t showered in two days, and was in no position to talk about greasy hair. He set both his hands in his lap, and Millie turned a quarter of the way around, leaning against the wall so she could see Pete out of the corner of her eye and not force him into any eye contact. Pete was grateful she had been a quick learner about his avoidance of eye contact.

“Is variety good?” She asks, glancing over to him.

He paused, considering the answer. “Yeah.” He answered quietly. “I like it for this. If you all had the same hair it’d get pretty boring.”

“I’m glad.” She grinned. He nodded his head, drumming his fingers against his leg.


	3. Perfume

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Millie's new perfume is nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been havng a lot of shit feelings recently so they're all getting shoved onto pete, surprise surprise.

“You smell really nice.”

“I smell like watered down perfume?”

Pete grinned. Full-out grin. He nodded.

“Yeah, but that’s part of it. S’not overwhelming and stuff. I don’t choke when I smell it.”

Millie smiled. Full-out smile, but that was normal for her. “Are you saying you’re glad my little sister stole my bottle of perfume?” She asked. Pete nodded.

“You smell good.” He repeated. She laughed.

“Is this your way of saying I need to wear less perfume? Or just… less fragrant perfume?” 

“I mean, yeah.” He glanced down at his hands suddenly, looking disgruntled. “Was that rude?”

She stepped closer, holding her hand out. When he nodded, slowly, she wrapped her arm around his shoulder. Or tried to, at least, he was so tall. Millie shook her head. “If it were anyone else, maybe, but I get what you’re saying.” She assured him. He took a deep breath.

“Thank you.” He mumbled, the way he did when he had no idea what else to say.

“No problem.” She smiled.

Pete hesitated for a long moment, staring at the ground. Millie kept her arm around his upper back, just observing her friend. When he spoke again, his voice was far too mumbled for even her to hear.

“Say again?” She asked, furrowing her brows. Pete swallowed thickly, looking away from her.

“Can I-I have a, uh, a hug?” He asked, stuttering over his words. His chest felt tight. He hated asking things, what if it was weird? Too out there?

But Millie, sweet, sweet Millie, just smiled. “Of course!” She sang, and took a step away from him before going back and wrapping her arms around him straight on.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly, curling around her and holding onto her tight. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. He smelled like oranges. She held him back, just as strong.

“Thank you.” He muttered into her hair.

“Of course.” She said back, smile on her lips.

Hugging Millie was nice. Preferable, even.


	4. Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eye contact with Millie wasn't terrifying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did u kno: i hate eye contact. and i can't play off that 'oh just look at their nose!' thing either, because i hate seeing their face. and that sounds super rude but im tired and refuse to think of another way to phrase it because honestly that ones the truth.

Somethings were still weird to Pete. Eye contact was weird. No, correction, eye contact was  _ terrifying _ . Pete had a hard time looking his own mother in the eyes, let alone anyone else. There were exceptions to this rule, of course, like days he felt more confident than others, or around people like Michael, and Henrietta, and Firkle, who all know his discomfort and didn’t try to push. Who he could still hold a normal conversation without staring directly at their face.

The list was growing, though.

Eye contact with Millie wasn’t as scary as it had once been, at the start of their friendship. Back when they’d only walk side by side, and any eye contact was accidental and left Pete with his heart rate skyrocketing and Millie giving him that concerned glance. It was better now. He could look into her eyes and see the blue-green of her irises, the way the light reflected off from her window, the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled.

It wasn’t all perfect, definitely not. There were still countless times when he would shy away, looking to his hands for comfort. But then she’d be there, holding out her hand in either an offer for a hug or to hold hands. And both was nice. Even though her hands were warm and clammy most of the time, holding her hand was still wonderful, a way to steady himself, to tether himself back to the earth.

So, maybe it wasn’t a constant, and maybe they had no way of knowing if today would be a ‘good day’ or a ‘bad day,’ until it was here and Pete was either staring intensely at the ground or intensely at Millie. And either was fine. So long as he wasn’t freaking out, Millie was fine with it.

And that meant a lot to Pete.


	5. Group Chat - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Group Chat fic for the soul
> 
> everyone introduces themself but in case u need some help:
> 
> pete - vagaboned / "pete says fuck you"  
> millie - thoroughlyModern / "Millie /\"  
> michael - BLACKBlRD / "xtreme edge"  
> henrietta - FoggyForest / "soft lesbian"  
> firkle - knifeshoe / "knife shoe"  
> mike makowski - XedgypreteenX / "DADDY ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶"  
> larry - bellabee / "gabriel reyes"

**thoroughlyModern (Millie /\\) has been added to _friendship is for LOSERS_ , with BLACKBlRD (xtreme edge), FoggyForest (soft lesbian), XedgypreteenX (DADDY ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶), knifeshoe (knife shoe), vagaboned (pete says fuck you), and bellabee (gabriel reyes).**

**Millie /\** : what  
 **Millie /\** : what is this

 **xtreme edge** : hell

 **soft lesbian** : *heaven

 **xtreme edge** : **hell

 **pete says fuck you** : run away millie  
 **pete says fuck you** : before its too late

 **Millie /\** : pete?

 **pete says fuck you** : yeah

 **Millie /\** : what ghe fuck is happening here

 **gabriel reyes** : ghe

 **pete says fuck you** : shut up larry

 **gabriel reyes** : ok

 **pete says fuck you** : hey can yall maybe stop talking for two seconds to explain shit for millie

 **soft lesbian** : Whats the fun in that

 **pete says fuck you** : listen either you all get thw choice to reveal yourself or im doing it for you

 **DADDY ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶** : im mike!

 **pete says fuck you** : i forgot your name is daddy here im blocking u

 **DADDY ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶** : NO

 **Millie /\** : ,,,,

 **soft lesbian** : its henri hello hello  
 **soft lesbian** : im the reason you're here, ur welcum

 **gabriel reyes** : whale-come

 **knife shoe** : WERE NOT DOING FHIS AGAIN FUCK OFF

 **gabriel reyes** : WHALE-COME

 **xtreme edge** : im michael, knife shoe is firkle, gabriel is larry.

 **Millie /\** : Larry ?

 **pete says fuck you** : emo vamp

 **gabriel reyes** : fuck u im not emo  
 **gabriel reyes** : im scene bitch

 **pete says fuck you** : even better

 **soft lesbian** : welcome to the club millie ur the first person to not be wearing all black

 **knife shoe** : larry doesn't wear all black

 **soft lesbian** : welcome to the club millie ur the second person to not be wearing all black

 **gabriel reyes** : thanks

**\-- vagaboned has left _friendship is for LOSERS_ \--**

**\-- FoggyForest has added vagaboned to _friendship is for LOSERS_ \--**

**soft lesbian** : no one leaves the gc

**\-- vagaboned has left _friendship is for LOSERS_ \--**

**Millie /\** : pete don't leave me :c

**\-- vagaboned has joined _friendship is for LOSERS_ \--**

**pete says fuck you** : okay

 **Millie /\** : omg

 **soft lesbian** : pete oh my GOD


	6. Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pete stims in ways he didn't even realize.

“Do I ever do raptor hands?”

“...Raptor hands?”

Millie raised an eyebrow. Pete sighed.

“Raptor hands, like, uh…” He hesitated for just a second, before pulling his hands up to his chest, his fingers vaguely resembling claws. “Raptor hands.”

Millie stared at him blankly. Her brows knitted together. “Literally any time you aren't holding something.”

“Really?” His hands dropped back into his pockets, his face pulled together in confusion. “All the time?”

“Okay, bit of an exaggeration, but you  _ do _ do it a lot.” Millie smiled. “Did you seriously not know?”

“No!” Pete huffed. “I had no idea. And that’s not a thing normal people do, right?”

‘Normal people.’ Right. He was supposed to stop with that. Whatever.

“If by normal you mean allistic people, then yeah, no, we don't.” She kicked at a rock in the path.

The corners of his lips turned up in a small smile.

“Wild.” He mumbled.

Millie smiled.


	7. Success

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pete wants to talk.

His chest felt like there were hundreds of birds flapping around, all pushing and trying to escape. Tiny beaks poking and tearing at the cavity of his chest, sharp claws ripping away at his insides.

He hated that feeling, and frankly it needed to get the fuck away from him. 

Which was why he was pulling on his shoes, clipping his dog’s leash to her collar, and stepping out into the unusually sunny March air. To escape the birds in his chest. And to do something else. Something with a girl. Had to go see about a girl.

His chest still hurt as he wandered around the trailer park, grip tight on his dog’s leash. She happily let him decide where they were going, pausing only to aggressively sniff a bush.

Millie’s house would be a short walk if he decided to go directly there. He didn't, of course, he spent fifteen minutes awkwardly wandering around the street around the corner from her. He talked to the dog for a few minutes, discussing with her about what he’d say. After a few minutes, he took a deep breath, walking back down the street, up the two steps to her door, and knocked.

Flora answered the door.

“Um,” he started, his chest tightening even further, “i-is Millie here?”

Flora hesitated before nodding her head, and disappearing back into the house.

Flora was less stressful to deal with than he had originally thought.

Millie came down stairs nearly two minutes later, decked out in fuzzy PJs, hair up in a bun. She was still incredibly pretty.

“Hi Pete.” She said, smiling brightly. “And hello Mist!” She cooed to the dog. Mist barked happily. “What’s up?”

“Uh,” Pete swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

“Yeah?” Millie asked. In a way that wasn't judgemental. In a way that said ‘yeah’ was a totally logical answer for ‘what's up.’ God, she was too good. Too nice. “Wanna go on a walk?” She offered, and Pete nodded quickly. Mist barked. She smiled and slipped on a pair of slippers, pink and as fluffy as her pajamas.

And thus they started out on their walk, side by side. No eye contact required, thank fucking Christ.

“So, um,” Pete started again, his hands twisting around Mist’s leash, “I was-, I was just wondering if, i-if you would.” He paused, distraught look on his face.

“Do you wanna talk about something else first?” Millie offered, and Pete let out a quiet sigh.

“Yes please…” He murmured. “How was your day?” That was the only question he was good at.

“It was good!” She answered, looking up to the sky. “My friend’s throwing a party tomorrow, so we’ve been planning that since lunch. I’d love to invite you but I think you wouldn't like it at all, since it’s just a bunch of preppy kids.” She glanced at him, and he shrugged. “What about you?”

Pete hesitated, giving it some thought. “Skipped school. Walked my sister home from hers. Mom’s at work until late, so at some point I’ve gotta head back and order food.”

Millie nodded. “Are you a picky eater?” She asked.

“Only for certain things. I don’t like jelly stuff… jelly beans.” He scoffed.

“You don't like jelly beans?” Millie asked, dramatically pulling her hand to her chest.

“They feel terrible!” Pete snapped, but it wasn't angrily. “Jelly beans, jelly, fruit pies… cooked fruits and vegetables, it's all gross as shit.” 

“You don't like  _ pie _ ?” 

“I like banana cream pie, and that's it.”

“You nerd.” She grinned, bumping her elbow against his. 

“I have no excuse for that.” 

She grinned, and he did too.

“Uhhh… what’s your feelings on slime?” Millie asked after a lapse in conversation.

“Slime?” Pete raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah! Like, for stimming. I've heard some autistic people use homemade slime for stimming.” She explained, talking with her hands.

“Oh…” Pete said, tilting his head. “I dunno. I’ve never had any.” He shrugged.

“Maybe we could make some.” She hummed. “And if you don't like it, I’ll gladly take it.”

Pete snickered. “Alright…”

“Nice.” She grinned, kicking at the rock in her path. The two settled into another little silence. They stopped to let Mist sniff at rocks and a stop sign.

“So, um, b-back to what I was saying, earlier…” Pete said, pulling one of his hands up to his mouth, chewing on his thumb. Millie nodded patiently. “So, I was, uh, I was wondering if maybe, maybe you’d like to go… on a date? With me?” He stammered, staring straight ahead, refusing to even give Millie a glance. His chest was aching.

Millie tripped on air, stumbling a few steps behind him. “Oh, my god.” She whispered.

And his chest only felt tighter. He walked a little faster. 

Oh fuck, she hated him, didn’t she? That’s what would be happening now. He’d have to completely shift the schedule he’d built with her over the past four months because now she’d want to stop seeing him. Never see his face again. Oh shit. Why would she want to date someone like  _ him _ anyways? What the fuck? Dammit. He should’ve kept his mouth shut.

“I-”

“I’m sorry.” Pete cut her off, eyes fixed on the dog. “It was stupid, never mind, forget it, I’m sorry I said anything, I was stupid, I should-”

“Pete!” Millie squeaked. Pete stopped. He glanced back at her, realizing he was now a few feet in front of her. She was staring at him, exasperated. “Yes!” She answered.

“Yes?” Pete asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, I’d love to go on a date! With you! Oh my god, I’ve been kind of wanting to ask you the same thing but I didn’t know how you’d feel about it!” 

“Oh my god.” Pete mumbled. He was rocking on the balls of his feet.

“So, like, when?” She asked. “Tomorrow? Wait- no, Esther’s party… I-I mean I could totally like,  _ not _ go if you wanna have the date tomorrow? It’s up to you, dude!” Millie rambled, taking a few steps to get back to Pete’s side. He smiled faintly, shaking his head.

“Go to your party. You said you helped plan, I can’t take you away from that.” He said, as the two slowly began to walk again. “Maybe, Sunday though? I’ll pick you up at the park like normal and we can go somewhere other than home?”

“Yes!” Millie grinned, clapping her hands together. “That’d be great. Where do you wanna go?”

Pete thought about it for a long moment, still chewing on his thumb. “I’m not sure…”

“Maybe we’ll just have to see where the wind takes us.” Millie laughed.

“Maybe.” Pete echoed.

They glanced at each other, holding eye contact for a few long seconds. They smiled to each other.


	8. Date?

“I’m still not sure what we’re doing.” Pete said, near proudly, as they began walking from the park. In a different direction than they usually take, might he add.

“I  _ see _ .” Millie added with a grin. “Are we going to Main Street?” She asked as they crossed the street.

“It appears so.” Pete hummed, sending her a glance. “How was your party?”

Millie laughed quietly, running her fingers over a parking meter as they past. “Loud.” She started. “And kind of terrible. I mean, who has a pool party in  _ March _ ? Esther, that's who.”

Pete let out a little laugh as well. “That's dumb.”

“I mean,” Millie sighed, “it  _ was _ warm the past few days, but as soon as Saturday got here, boom! Freezing rain! On the bright side she let us stay inside, so it was just a bunch of idiots playing truth or dare and screaming.”

“That sounds…” Pete tried to come up with a word. A decent word, a nice one for saying ‘that sounds awful.’ He came up short. “Really terrible.”

“Only a little.” Millie laughed. “We played Mario Kart on her Wii, unsurprisingly Doug kicked everyone’s asses.”

“Doug?” Pete raised an eyebrow. Who the hell was Doug.

“Douglas.” Millie said with a grin. “He’s that guy with the terrible grades who’s always with his 3DS. And Redbull. Classic.”

“Oh. Douglas.” Yeah, alright, that sounded about on point for Douglas.

“Lola and Brad call him Dougie.” Millie giggled.

“That is even worse that Doug.” Pete scoffed. Millie laughed, clapping her hands together.

“Oh yeah, most definitely. He hates it.” She said. 

“Terrible.” Pete smiled.

“Are we gunna spend our date talking about our friends?” Millie asked. She grabbed onto a lamppost and spun herself around, and Pete watched with a happy little glint in his eyes.

“I mean, we could.” Pete shrugged. “I was thinking maybe stop by the mall and get something to eat, but if you’d rather we keep walking and shit-talking those we’re close to, I wouldn't mind.”

“I think we can do both, actually.” Millie laughed. Pete exhaled a giggle. “We can take turns.”

“Excellent.” Pete said as they turned the corner, now heading in the direction of the mall. “Let’s start with you.”

“But I just went with Douglas!” She protested. 

“But you have more friends than I do.” Pete shrugged. “ _ And _ I don't know as much about them.”

Millie huffed. “Alright… who do we start with?”

“The curly haired girl.”

“Curly hair?” Millie raised an eyebrow, but her face quickly washed over with a knowing look. “Oh, Annie?”

“That’s the one.” Pete nodded.

“Well, Annie’s pretty cool.” Millie started. “She can talk a lot though, and she can be kind of weird about the things she likes.”

“What’s she like?” Pete asked.

“Pop music-”

“Ew.”

“Hush!” Millie laughed. “Like, One Direction, that kinda stuff, but she’s nice! We did theater together last year.”

“Who was she?” Pete raised an eyebrow. Last year their school did Into the Woods. Millie was the baker’s wife.

“She played Rapunzel.” 

“Rapunzel.” Pete repeated. He nodded his head. He didn’t quite remember what her point was in the musical. Oh well.

“Alright, my turn.” Millie grinned, turning the conversation.

“Alright.” Pete replied. “Who do you want to know about?” 

“Mike.” She answered immediately.

Pete choked out a laugh. “Mike?”

“Mike!” Millie took a few big steps forward and turned to face him, walking backwards. “He and Larry are the only two I don't know a lot about! I know everyone else thanks to you but those two don't hang around you a lot! And now he’s off at college so it’s not like I can approach him during school!”

“That's ‘cause they're posers.” Pete said, watching her go. “We never really hung out much anyways.”

“Then why’s he in the group chat?” She asked, glancing over her shoulder to make sure she wouldn't run into anything.

“I mean, we’re closer now, I guess. And he's dating Michael.” Pete answered, calmly.

Millie tripped over her feet. “Seriously?” She asked. Pete nodded. “Huh, I’d never’a guessed…”

“They aren't very public about it.” Pete shrugged. “Sometimes when we're all together at someone's house, they’ll sit next to each other and lean on each other, but that's about it.” Pete shrugged his shoulders. “Michael’s not big on PDA. I think it kind of makes Mike a little sad. The dude’s filled with love but the guy he loves gets uncomfortable holding hands.” He sighed, rolling his eyes. He had dated Mike, back at the beginning of high school. It wasn't much, just a way of not being alone at dances. They broke up after a month or so. But still, in that time, Mike was extremely affectionate. 

Millie paused, slowing her walking. She allowed them to fall back into the side by side. “What about you?” She asked, finally.

Pete hesitated. “ _ What _ about me?” He asked

“Do you like holding hands?” She asked, sneaking a glance at him. His cheeks reddened.

“I'm not opposed to it…” He murmured, and Millie grinned.

“Can I hold your hand, Pete?”

He spluttered, looking down at the ground. His shoes were ridiculously ratty. God, he should've worn better shoes. “Yeah, definitely.” He mumbled.

And Millie grinned, taking his hand in hers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i might write a little more with michael and mike's relationship just because i love it a lot.


End file.
